


Small Fish in a Big World

by apocope



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/F, Fix-It, Gen, Slow Burn, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-21
Packaged: 2021-03-22 11:20:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30037899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/apocope/pseuds/apocope
Summary: What if Korra was a little nerdier and a little more rooted in the place she came from? What if Mako and Bolin's backstory had a little more weight to it and felt a little more dangerous? What if Asami and everyone else were just a little bit more gay?That's it. That's the premise. Book 1 of LOK but with more nerds, more sadness, more gay.
Relationships: Korra/Asami Sato
Comments: 3
Kudos: 37





	1. Tests and Telegrams

Book 1: Decisions

**Chapter 1: Tests and Telegrams**

  
  


Korra walked away from her firebending final out of breath and sore from the exertion, but still full of nervous energy. The masters _had_ to pass her this time—they _had to._ She'd been perfect.

In her head, Korra replayed each controlled breath and every restrained strike, the ways she'd anticipated her opponent's attacks and how she'd countered them with the appropriate defenses. She also remembered catching glimpses of her examiners throughout the fight, their faces expressionless, or perhaps simply focused as they watched her and took notes. Whatever they'd been thinking, they didn't want her to know. And that meant it was probably something bad.

Korra shook her head to clear away these spiraling unproductive thoughts. The masters would either give her a pass or force her to continue her firebending training. Which they _might_ be inclined to do, if only because she'd never _actually_ done any airbending and might not _actually_ be capable of it and therefore was not _really_ the Avatar--

“I _am_ the Avatar.” Korra clenched her fists at her sides and went over the evidence that proved it: bending multiple elements, passing the toy test, having her birthday correspond with the day of Avatar Aang's death, and so on.

She unclenched her fists and continued her walk around the perimeter of the White Lotus compound, looking for something to do.

Not more training, she wasn't in a headspace where that would be productive. Not studying either, since she knew she wouldn't be able to focus. Maybe strike up a conversation with one of the White Lotus? Or perhaps go see what her parents were doing? They always had things to be done around the house.

But they would all want to talk about the test, and they probably _would_ end up talking about it, even if Korra asked them not to, because she kind of wanted to as well. It was like picking at a scab—she knew she shouldn't, that she would cause herself harm if she did, but she did not have the willpower to restrain herself.

Korra smiled as she remembered the one person who wouldn't bring out the worst of her in that way, who could distract her from her worries. Korra broke into a run, slipping a little on the wet stones as she rounded a corner.

“Naga!”

The polar bear dog bounded out of her stall in the White Lotus stables and bowled into Korra, knocking them both to the ground. Earthbending softened the landing and the two tousled for a moment until Naga rolled onto her back and let Korra rub her belly.

Before long, Korra's worries were forgotten, as she brushed Naga's fur, trimmed her nails, and worked on the tricks Naga was learning.

  
  


**ccoOoɔɔ**

  
  


Katara and the other masters found her in the yard outside the stables an hour or so later, led by Master Naakyo, the leader of the White Lotus. They were all as serious and stone-faced as ever, but looking at Master Katara's eyes, Korra thought she saw a hint of a smile there.

Korra stood, rocking from heel to toe, barely able to contain her own grin as Katara caught her eye and gave her a wink.

“Avatar Korra,” Master Naakyo said, managing to sound as stuffy and ostentatious as though he were standing before a royal palace and not a dirty stable full of animals and their poop. “Today you have demonstrated a competency in the art of firebending that few achieve. You have become more than proficient in all but the most advanced traditional forms, and proven yourself controlled, restrained, and capable in combat. It is my honor to pronounce you a true master of the art.” He and the other masters bowed to her.

Korra's smile grew as Naakyo made his announcement and she couldn't help laughing aloud from pride and relief.

“Does this mean I can begin training with Master Tenzin?”

Naakyo's face turned sour as he straightened from his bow, but Master Katara spoke before he could reprimand Korra for not giving the appropriate, grateful, humble response.

“We can send him a telegram today.”

Korra hugged her waterbending teacher, thanking her as Katara gently patted her back.

“It is a long journey from the United Republic, so it may be some time before Tenzin can join us,” Katara reminded her, but this did nothing to dampen Korra's excitement. Finally, she was going to get to learn airbending. Finally, she was going to be a real Avatar.

  
  


**ccoOoɔɔ**

  
  


Korra stood in her parents' home, a telegram pinched between cold fingers, her heart sinking.

_Am unable to leave city now STOP will train when able STOP apologies STOP_

Korra groaned, putting her head in her hands as her mother took the scrap of paper from her to read it again herself.

“Oh, Korra,” Senna said, rubbing her back. “This isn't so bad. Think of it as a vacation. You've worked so hard on learning the other elements, now you can take a break.”

Korra just shook her head, as Senna gave her one more pat then got up to resume tidying the house. Korra listened to the small sounds of her mother moving about, soothed a little by her calm words, but still upset.

“In fact, a real vacation sounds nice,” Senna continued. “You, me, your father, we could all go to Qanniq, visit the market and the skating rinks...”

“I guess,” Korra said, aware that she sounded like a grumpy little kid. It made sense that Tenzin couldn't just pack up his life and leave in an instant, he was an important governmental figure in the UR. But knowing that didn't make her feel better. She wanted to learn airbending _now_ , as selfish as that made her sound.

“There's my girl,” Senna said. “Help me peel these sea kumquats?”

Korra dragged herself away from the table and lurched over to the hearth to help her mother.

  
  


**ccoOoɔɔ**

  
  


Days passed and Korra found herself growing more and more bored with every moment. She found things to do of course—visiting the city, going hunting, and studying in the not-unimpressive White Lotus library—but she knew in her heart all she was doing was waiting. She was killing time when every day she wasted was another day the world spent without a fully realized Avatar.

And so, about a week after receiving Tenzin's telegram, Korra approached Master Katara in the village's healing hut. It was a large building, larger than any one home, and full of medical equipment and staff attending to the patients. People came here for healing from miles around, to receive help from one of the best healers in the world.

“Korra? What is it this time?” Katara barely glanced up from the patient she was attending to, her attention focused on the lightly glowing water that flowed beneath her hands. An old man with swollen ankles sat on the bench before her, face tight with pain. “Unless it's something life-threatening, you'll have to wait.”

Korra shook her head. “Katara, can you talk to Tenzin again?”

“To ask him what?”

Korra shrugged, watching Katara work. “To tell him he doesn't have to stay here indefinitely. Just a few weeks. A month or two to get me started. Or even just send some scrolls in the mail.” Her earthbending teacher had done just that to get her a jump start.

“You never showed this much eagerness for my healing lessons,” Katara said, still not bothering to look up from what she was doing. Her patient however did, glancing awkwardly between Korra and Katara.

Korra caught the old man's gaze and rolled her eyes. “Katara, please?”

“I don't know why you think I can convince him any better than you could yourself. Go. You know where the post office is.”

Korra bowed and rushed out of the healing hut, whistling for Naga as she raced for the post office. She could have run there herself, but Naga was learning how to let Korra mount and dismount at speed. Naga had balked at first, but with time it was getting to be as though she and Korra could sense each others' thoughts, their movements were so smooth and practiced.

The post office was a low-slung building, built mainly to serve the needs of the White Lotus members living at the compound. It was drab and smelled like bird droppings, but it more than made up for it by having a functional telegraph machine. The next closest one was in the city, nearly three hours away!

After a little prodding, Korra managed to wake up the sleeping operator and have him send a message to Master Tenzin.

_Tenzin, when can you come for short stay STOP if not soon please send scrolls in mail STOP_

“Anything else, miss?” the operator asked after tapping out a complex rhythm of dots and dashes. He was an older man, balding but with a crown of fluffy white hair that bounced as he moved

Korra shook her head. “How long before he replies?”

The telegraph operator clicked his tongue. “Well, could be an hour, could be a day or a month or never. We've sent the message out there, now all's we can do is wait,” he said, flicking his fingers as though throwing something into the void.

“But how long do you think it'll be?”

“Message to someone important, like Master Tenzin? Probably a day, maybe two. Anything else?”

Korra glanced at the sun outside, gauging the time, then back at the old man and his machine. “Do you think... you could teach me to read these?” she asked, indicating the pile of ticker tape messages that covered the operator's table.

The old man's fluffy white eyebrows went up in surprise.

“I might. Do you know the fire syllabary?”

Korra nodded. “And the earth characters and the water alphabet.” She even knew a few of the air glyphs, though it was so rare that she ever used them she basically had to relearn them every time she saw them.

“Good. Since the telegraph was invented in the Fire Nation, it's convention to use their system. Now each mora can be expressed as a set of shorts and longs. Dots and dashes, if you will. For example, this is the mora _ba_.” He tapped three times on the table. “Once you've memorized the code for each mora, all you need to do is transliterate your message into the fire syllabary and express that as code.”

“Huh.” Korra sat down next to the operator, staring at a table of mora and codes he passed her. “But the two languages are so different.” So different in fact that she still had a hard time understanding her firebending teacher, even after two years of instruction. “How are you supposed to write the Water Languages with fire letters?”

“Mora, not letters,” the operator corrected. “Mora represent syllables while letters are strictly a single sound. Do you want me to show you?”

Korra happily agreed, and spent the next few hours learning how to encode messages and how to use the telegraph machine to send them. By the end of the session she did not quite have either skill mastered, but she promised she would return tomorrow to continue the lesson.

_And,_ Korra thought to herself as she walked home again with Naga, _I won't have to wait if Tenzin's message arrives while I'm there_.

  
  


**ccoOoɔɔ**

  
  


Two days passed before Tenzin replied.

_Will send scrolls soon STOP cannot leave for foreseeable future STOP many apologies STOP_

The telegraph operator allowed Korra to decode the message herself. Once she had figured out its contents, she had to restrain herself from crumpling or burning up the paper, and tried to focus on the silver sandwich. She _would_ be getting some scrolls sometime soon, and Tenzin _did_ mean to teach her eventually, even if he didn't know when.

She stuffed the paper into the pocket of her coat and thanked the telegraph operator before asking, “How long does it take a letter to get here from Republic City?”

“Three weeks, maybe four.”

“What about newspapers?”

“Three weeks, maybe four.”

Korra clenched her fists and tried to be patient with the old man. “Do you have any here?”

“Not right now, no. But one of your White Lotus friends gets a paper every week.”

In an instant her mood brightened. There was only one White Lotus member from the UR: Raijin the earthbender.

“Thanks, perfect, gotta go!” Korra shouted as she dashed from the post office and out into the village.

The doors to the White Lotus compound were impossibly slow. Korra danced on the spot, waiting for them to open. She could have launched herself over with earthbending, or climbed up the wall with ice, but she had learned from experience that neither the White Lotus or the villagers living just outside the compound appreciated that.

Finally the doors opened and Korra ran inside. “Raijin! Has anybody seen Raijin?”

A couple minutes later Raijin came running down from the eastern watchtower, confusion and worry in his green eyes. He was a tall, muscular young man, handsome despite being ten or more years older than Korra herself.

“Raijin, thank the spirits.” Korra put a hand on his shoulder, steadying herself a little as she caught her breath.

“What? What is happened?” he asked in his muddy version of the Southern Water Language.

“Raijin, I need your paper.”

“Paper?”

“Your newspaper from the United Republic.”

“Why is my paper so important you come in screaming my name?” Raijin asked, removing her hand from his shoulder.

“So. I passed my firebending exam a couple weeks ago, right? That means now I _should_ be starting my airbending training with Master Tenzin, _but_ , he can't come here right now, since he's some kind of important bigwig in the RC. So, I figured I'd find out what's going on up there so maybe I'll get an idea for how long it's going to be before he can come teach me.”

Raijin did not look like he understood, so Korra simplified.

“I want to know what's happening in the United Republic.”

“Oh. I see. Yes, I can give you my newspaper. Please be waiting here with no screaming.”

Korra waited, practicing pulling water from the air like Katara had taught her until Raijin returned with the paper.

“Thank you, Raijin!” she said, clapping his arm in thanks. “Are you going to want this back or can I keep it?”

“Is fine,” Raijin said with a shrug and Korra was off again, jogging to the White Lotus library where she could sit in silence and with good light for reading.

Really, Korra enjoyed reading. She enjoyed learning about interesting things, even if they were not immediately useful to the business of Being the Avatar—like learning the telegraph code. So, she had a great number of useless facts taking up space inside her head. Like that eel hounds would only spawn in the same stream where they had been born, or that even though the steam engine had been invented in the Fire Nation, it was the inner steppes of the Earth Kingdom where it first saw widespread use.

But, more importantly, reading was a good distraction. Whenever she was consumed with worry about not _really_ being the Avatar, books were there to keep her occupied and thinking about other things.

The newspaper she had obtained from Raijin was about a month old and written in the modern, simplified earth characters. But, seeing as languages were one of the few things the White Lotus was adamant she learn, the text posed no real trouble.

Sitting in a big, cushy library chair beneath a sunny north-facing window, Korra skimmed the headlines.

< _Councilman Tenzin pushes for patience before rowdy Equalist crowd_ >

< _House fire victims blame Triple Threat Triad_ >

< _Letter to the Editor: A mother's thoughts on radicalization >_

_< New pro bending season lineups have fans rearing to go>_

  
  


**ccoOoɔɔ**

  
  


Korra walked out of the library, blinking dazedly in the bright summer sunlight. Still trying to process everything she had read, she set out for the village to find Katara again, the newspaper tucked under her arm.

She found Katara behind the healing hut, practicing the basic forms she had mastered decades ago. Korra set down the paper and fell into step beside her, not wanting to interrupt the ritual.

“Did Tenzin reply to your telegram?” Katara asked, still flowing through the motions.

Korra held back a sigh. “Yes. He said he'll send some scrolls, but he still can't come.”

“Running a country is difficult, never ending work.”

“I wish he could just find somebody else to take over for him. If it's so hard, he probably deserves a break.” After so many years of training, Korra understood well the importance of breaks, even if she was loathe to take them.

“I got a paper from Raijin, and from what I read, Republic City is a mess. Maybe _all_ the councilors need a break.”

“Sometimes,” Katara said, very slowly and deliberately, “there is no one else.”

Korra almost argued back that in a nation of two million people, there almost _had_ to be somebody else, but then reconsidered, thinking of where Katara was coming from. When Aang had defeated Fire Lord Ozai, he'd done it alone, even though he hadn't wanted to do it at all. Or how after the war was over, Katara had returned to her tribe to teach waterbending to the next generation because she was the only one who could.

And now Tenzin, the world's only airbending master, was basically the only one who could govern the UR, _and_ the only one who could teach her, leaving him in an impossible situation. And he was choosing his city over the Avatar because that was the more pressing problem. Korra could wait, while the people being robbed, extorted and killed really couldn't.

A thought struck Korra, so hard and sharp she lost focus on what she was doing and her stream of water splashed onto the ground. Katara paused and glanced at her.

“Why didn't I think of it before?” Korra slapped a hand to her forehead. “If he can't come here, and the city needs help, why don't I go there? Isn't that what the Avatar is supposed to do? Help people?”

“Korra...” Katara looked concerned. “You're not ready.”

Korra put her hands on her hips. “I've already mastered three elements, and the White Lotus has taught me a lot about being a leader, so don't tell me I'm not ready.” The only way she was going to get _more_ ready was to master airbending, and that wasn't going to happen if she stayed.

Katara put her hands on Korra's shoulders. “Korra, when I say you're not ready, that doesn't mean I don't think you should go.” Katara pulled her into a hug, and Korra found herself struggling not to cry with unidentified emotion.

“If we all wait for the moment when we are ready, nothing will ever get done. Just know that you've got a lot to learn. The White Lotus and your parents might disagree, but I'll help you go if they try to stop you.” There was something fierce in Katara's voice, a sharpness Korra would have been afraid to have pointed at her.

Katara let her go and Korra wiped her nose a little on the inside of her collar. “Do you...” she asked, hesitating, “Do you think you could come with me? You'd get to see your son and grandchildren.”

Katara shook her head. “As much as I miss all of them, I have my own duties here. And besides, I don't think you want an old crone like me getting in the way of all the adventures you're going to have.”

Korra let out a choked laugh and wiped her nose again before following Katara into a private room inside the healing hut where together they planned Korra's secret trip.

  
  


**ccoOoɔɔ**

  
  


_Naga and I will be in RC in 20 days STOP can't wait to train STOP love Korra STOP_

_Korra danger for you in RC STOP do not come STOP_


	2. Welcome and Warning

**Chapter 2: Welcome and Warning**

  
  


Korra stood on the edge of the ship's deck, breathing in the salty winter air. Naga's tail thumped against the rail as the two of them watched the distant city grow larger by the second. Giant towers of glass and steel stood along the coastline like so many sparkling crystals, so beautiful and so different from what she was used to it made her heart pound and the back of her throat prickle. Was this what a “spiritual connection” felt like? Korra didn't have anything to compare this feeling to.

 _Maybe Tenzin will know_ , she thought as she rubbed Naga's ears.

Caught up in the sightseeing, it wasn't until after they had docked that Korra remembered she had to pack. She rushed back to her cabin, stuffed her few belongings into Naga's saddlebag, then bounded down the gang plank, up the dock and through the gate marking the entrance to the marina.

Once they were free of the traffic surrounding the marina entrance, Korra slowed Naga to a walk and began to talk through what they needed to do.

“Okay, girl. Remember what the captain told us to do. We have to find the ferry dock and get a ticket to Air Temple Island.” Korra had asked the ship's captain if she could drop her and Naga off directly at Air Temple Island, but it turned out the ship was too big to fit into the island's shallow harbor, so she would have to take a smaller ferry boat instead.

Right now, they were just on the outskirts of what looked to be a commercial harbor. Massive cargo ships and smaller passenger ships pulled in and out, tended to by smaller, faster craft carrying sailors and waterbenders. Korra scanned the docks for a sign for the ferry.

After a few minutes Korra determined the ferry must leave from a different marina and she urged Naga on, trying to keep Yue Bay in sight.

“What do you think? Should we ask someone for directions?”

This was the first time she was really dependent upon her language skills. Sure, she had studied plenty and her teachers told her she was competent, even close to fluent, but back home she could always fall back on her native tongue if she forgot a word or flubbed a declination.

“Excuse I... no, Excuse me,” she whispered to Naga, practicing the phrase.

Naga seemed to approve, so Korra dismounted and approached a man smoking a cigarette on the street corner.

“Hello, excuse me. Can you tell me where to find the ferry to Air Temple Island?”

The man's response was terse and fast, and Korra had to repeat his directions back to him before she felt she understood.

“Many thanks.” She gave him a quick bow and whispered the directions again as she hopped again onto Naga's back. “Cut across Machiko street, then make a right at the board-walk. Next to the marina office, big white building.”

Naga's ears flattened against her head as they pushed their way deeper into the city, and Korra had to admit she felt the same way. Up close, the city was just too much. So many cars and people, voices and engines blurring together to turn meaningful sounds into chaos. Her nose was assaulted with things she'd never smelled before and everywhere there were lights, movement and gaudy colors trying to attract her attention. It was like the busiest fair in Qanniq multiplied by a thousand.

“It's okay, girl.” Korra leaned in close and rubbed the back of Naga's neck before guiding her across the busy street and onto a wooden walkway that overlooked a second marina. From there it wasn't hard to find the big white building, clearly labeled < _Ferry_ > with a picture of a boat above the door.

Korra tied Naga up outside, gave her a treat for being so good, and marched into the ferry office.

It took her a moment to decipher the timetable, but once she had consulted the clock on the wall, Korra went up to the desk, the words she needed all lined up in her head.

“I would like two tickets for the ferry that leaves at eleven, please.”

“Forty yuans,” the woman behind the desk said, holding out her hand. “Please board the boat ten minutes before departure.”

“Oh!” Korra said, checking her pockets for the little envelope with all her money in it. She flashed an awkward smile at the woman behind the desk. “I'm sorry, just... two minutes,” she said and rushed back outside.

“Shoot, shoot and tangled knots,” Korra swore as she dug through Naga's saddlebag. Where was it? A plain brown envelope with bills and coins from three of the five major nations... “Oh no.” She had missed it while packing. It was still on the ship, safely hidden in a dresser drawer.

Korra groaned into Naga's fur as the polar bear dog whined back and tried to lick her face. “C'mon, girl.” Korra repacked her things and urged Naga into a run back towards the commercial marina.

A woman in a gray and gold uniform brought Korra up short at entrance to the the marina. Korra's ship was still floating right where she'd left it, little more than a stone's throw away.

“Miss, I'll need to see your pass. Miss?” She was a pale woman, broad shouldered with bright green eyes.

“Pass? I don't...” Korra trailed off, unsure and out of place. “I just got off the ship. Did you see me leave? I forgot something, I need to go back.”

The woman crossed her arms, eyes angry. “I can't let you on the docks,” she said, and continued to speak, but Korra lost the thread and failed to understand.

“But, my money. It's on the ship.”

“You left it there? That's too bad. But I can't let you in without a pass.”

Korra scowled, looking beyond the woman who continued to talk, judging the distance between herself and the water below. Twenty feet down and thirty feet out?

“Naga, sit.”

“Hey! What are you...?”

Korra sidestepped the woman, took two running steps, getting ready to earthbend, and got shoulder checked hard enough that she was nearly knocked off her feet.

“Hey!” Korra shouted as the woman produced a baton and a whistle. Korra stomped, turning the stone to sand under the woman's feet, making her stumble.

“Naga! Pin!”

Naga jumped on the woman, who screamed and tried to to push the five hundred pounds of dog off her. Somehow she got the whistle to her mouth and started blowing, to what end Korra didn't know.

“Stay!” Korra commanded and prepared to earthbend again, successful this time in her launch. In mid air, she pulled the water up to meet her, landing safely in a pencil dive. From there, it wasn't hard to redirect the flow and get herself back above the surface, riding a wave rolling towards the ship.

She landed on the dock without upsetting the boats too much and spared a glance back at Naga before running up the gangplank. Sailors and workers shouted at her, but Korra ignored them, focused on her goal. Get in, get her money and get out.

It took maybe all of sixty seconds to do so (with some judicious use of waterbending to get people out of her way) but once she was back outside, the situation had changed. More uniformed people had converged on the first and were pulling Naga away with a net.

Korra shouted and ran up the dock.

“Miss!” One of the people shouted at her through a cone. “You are under arrest!” Were they militia?

“What? No! I just...”

The militia with the cone shouted over her. His words were hard to make out, but Korra did catch two key phrases: “Attacking an officer...” and “come calmly, or...”

Korra took a breath, remembering the restraint her firebending teachers had drilled into her. She was angry but the militia members were angrier. Sure, she could fight them all off, burn all of them to a crisp, but they were supposed to be on the same side.

Korra placed her hands on her head in a sign of submission, and before she could get another word out, one of the militia whipped an arm out and a cable snaked out of their sleeve and snapped around Korra's wrists

 _Metalbender_.

Despite the seriousness of the situation and the importance of staying focused in the moment, Korra's thoughts immediately jumped to plotting a way to get the metalbender to teach her their technique.

The militia tugged on the cable, pulling her up the ramp where the militia informed her that she would remain calm and still and that she would be taken to the police headquarters for processing. Police then, not militia.

She answered a few questions—her name, where she was from—while she and the police officers waited for transport.

“No way,” Korra whispered as an airship rolled into view above the rooftops. She watched in awe as the airship loomed overhead, dark as a stormcloud and bigger than a building. A platform lowered from the cockpit and Korra and Naga were hustled aboard.

  
  


**ccoOoɔɔ**

  
  


Korra sat in a dark room in the police headquarters, hands pinned to the table. This was the third such room she'd been in, and she was getting frustrated. She'd already told her story to a number of officers who either didn't seem to believe her, or seemed downright afraid of her. Not exactly the kinds of responses she'd expected, and that feeling of being confused and far from home kept getting worse.

She was about ready to free herself with firebending when a metal hatch slid open and a new officer entered the room, bending the door shut behind her.

“Alright. Explain yourself.” The officer slumped into the chair opposite Korra, looking annoyed with the whole situation. She was an older woman with a different uniform than the other officers, black rather than gray. A pair of angry red scars stretched across her face.

“Well,” Korra said, wrists bumping against the restraints as she tried to talk with her hands. “I'm the Avatar...”

“I know, and I don't care. What I want to know is why, twenty seconds after arriving in my city, you decide to pick a fight with my officers.”

The use of _my city_ and _my officers_ did not escape Korra. Whoever this woman was, she was important. She also looked more Earth Kingdom than Fire Nation, which, according to Korra's studies, placed more importance on deference and respect for authority than she was used to.

This in mind, Korra took a gamble and touched her forehead to the table between her arms. “I'm sorry, ma'am. I didn't understand what was happening.”

There was a long pause, and then the woman snorted. “Sit up.”

Korra did, sitting much straighter than usual, looking respectfully at the table and not the woman's eyes.

The woman sighed and pushed a piece of paper into Korra's immobilized hands. “I'm fining you twelve thousand yuans for trespassing in an industrial zone and attacking an officer.” She waved a hand and Korra's shackles clicked open. The door however remained closed, which Korra took as a cue to remain seated.

“Now,” the woman said, leaning forward and staring Korra in the eye, “tell me what the Avatar is doing in my city.”

Korra held back from rubbing her wrists, wanting to look strong in front of her interrogator. “I'm here to learn... to study with Master Tenzin.”

“And that's all?”

“Yes, ma'am.” _Why else would I come to this crazy city?_

“Good. I don't want you getting in my way again.” With a clawing motion, she bent the door open and motioned for Korra to leave.

Korra left, clutching her fine and blinking in the bright electric lights.

“You can pay that and collect your dog downstairs,” the scarred woman said, brushing past Korra without looking at her.

Korra watched her disappear around a corner, then turned to the officer who had been guarding the interrogation room.

“Who is that?” she asked in a whisper.

“Chief Beifong,” came the whispered reply.

Korra shivered, more intimidated now than she had been. That was the daughter of Toph Beifong, the Greatest Earthbender of All Time?

As Korra stared at the empty hallway, the officer glanced at the paper in her hand. “Here, I'll show you where to go.”

Korra nodded, and soon found herself back outside, reunited with Naga and penniless, having given all her hard-won cash to the clerk in the Fines Office. She still owed another five thousand yuans, but at least she was free.

Korra fed Naga the last of the treats from her bag, looking down at a crowd that had gathered at the foot of the steps leading up to the police headquarters. Her own stomach rumbled, but she could hold out for a while longer.

“C'mon girl. I'll make us an ice raft and we'll get to the temple in no time.”

  
  


**ccoOoɔɔ**

  
  


It turned out that simply getting off the police headquarters steps was harder than Korra had expected. What she had taken for a crowd was really more of a rally, with people carrying signs and banners and one man standing on a foldable table, shouting into a cone similar to the one that had been directed at Korra not long ago.

“What do we want?” the man on the table shouted.

The crowd cried back in the loud, but muddled tone of many people speaking together: “Equality!”

“When do we want it?”

“Previously!”

Not what Korra would have chosen for a chant, but at least it rhymed. She patted Naga's neck, trying to follow the path of least resistance down the steps.

“You there!” the lead chanter shouted. “Water Tribe girl! What did they bring you in for?”

“Wha... me?” Korra looked up from navigating the steps to see the whole crowd looking at her.

“Yes, you!”

“Uh... For attacking an officer,” Korra said, not wanting to be seen as so naïve she didn't know not to trespass. Getting in a fight was the kind of mistake anyone could make if they weren't careful.

The man shouted a word Korra didn't recognize, then asked her, “With your fists?”

“No, earthbending,” Korra said, confused and beginning to feel a little uncomfortable with all these fired up people looking at her.

“Ah-hah!” The man with the shouting-cone pointed at her. “A bender!” A few boos emanated from the crowd, but the man shushed them with a wave. “And let me guess. They let you out with a slap on the wrist.”

“What? No.” No one had slapped her, and if he was making a metaphor, Korra wasn't sure what it meant.

“Then they let you walk away skip-free!” More boos. “While if one of us did the same, with a weapon or a fist, we would face fines, and fees, and jail time,” he said with big dramatic pauses between each statement. “Girls like _this_ girl are _proof_ of the corruption and favoritism at all levels of government!”

He continued to rail against her and her theoretical connection with the “fat cats” but Korra had stopped focusing on his words and started paying attention to the crowd. Their attention was split between the speaker and herself, the anger and vitriol palpable in the air.

Holding tightly onto Naga's collar, Korra took the explosive spark of her own anger and swallowed it down where it could become an ember in the pit of her stomach. Even if they made her mad, she wasn't going to attack them. She pulled on Naga's collar and tried to lead her down the stairs.

“Yeah, you better leave!” One of the people in the crowd shouted, joined by others shouting less nice things. One idiot reached out and tugged on Naga's fur, forcing Korra to calm Naga down before someone got hurt.

“Hey! Bend this!” Her attention divided, Korra didn't have time to process and react to the incoming missile before it hit her in the side of the face. A paper bowl full of cold noodles.

“You.” Korra let go of Naga's collar and faced her attacker. “Frostbitten icicle sucker. You...” Her words devolved into an inarticulate scream as she reached for her earthbending. With a controlled, pressing motion, she turned the steps around her into a smooth slope, putting those near her all on their back foot. Then, with an extra boost from firebending, she jumped onto Naga's back.

“Naga! Run!”

Naga bowled through the already teetering civilians, bolting for the far side of the square. No one seemed inclined to chase them though, so once Naga had put a few hundred meters between them and their attackers, Korra dismounted and faced the crowd again. Not wanting to have the cops or the crowd proven right, Korra took a breath, steadied herself, and reversed the damage she'd done to the steps.

Shouts continued from the other side of the square and Korra urged Naga on again before anyone decided it was a good idea to come after them.

“C'mon, Naga.”

Naga whined and licked the noodle sauce from Korra's face.

  
  


**ccoOoɔɔ**

  
  


The shadows were growing long and Korra and Naga's stomachs were rumbling by the time Korra found a bit of shoreline she could access without trespassing on anything. Making the ice raft was easy, but holding it together—keeping it from cracking or melting—required a good bit of attention if she wanted it to support the two of them. That plus keeping it moving made for a very long, very tiring mile of travel from the shore to the island.

Korra collapsed onto the rocky beach of the island, not caring that the waves were trying to pull her boots off. Naga circled around and around, then started peeing uncomfortably close to Korra's head.

“Naga, no,” she groaned, then willed herself to her feet and started walking. A switchback trail led from the beach up to the main temple complex, a sight Korra knew would have been beautiful if she'd been in a state to enjoy it.

About two switchbacks in, Korra heard a woman shriek further up the hillside. She looked up from her trudging to see a plain looking woman wearing yellow robes and a frightened expression.

“Can... can I help you?” the woman asked. She had to be one of the air acolytes.

“I need to see Tenzin. I'm the Avatar.” Korra, drained by her long, stressful day, had barely any faculty left for language, let alone politeness.

“The... Avatar?” the woman said with the same sort of credulity she might have had if Korra had said she was a two-headed swan-snake.

As proof, Korra lit a bit of fire in one hand and pulled a stone from the ground with the other. She would have shown off her waterbending too, but she'd run out of water and hands.

“The... Avatar,” the woman said again, her tone completely changed as she dropped to her knees.

“I need Tenzin. Please,” she said, the exhaustion and emotion making her words quaver just a little.

“Oh! I... I'll go get him,” the acolyte said, not leaving until she had gotten a nod of approval from Korra. Once she was on her way, Korra let her head drop again and continued her march, reminded of the time her earthbending teacher had made her hike up and down Watchtower Peak three times in one day. This was like that, but somehow worse.

Korra had just reached the top of the trail when a tall man in red and yellow robes intercepted her path. Even if Korra hadn't recognized him from her childhood, the tattoos on his head and hands marked him for who he was. The world's only airbending master.

Part of Korra wanted to collapse into Tenzin's arms, but that wasn't fitting for a meeting between the Avatar and the head of the Air Nation. Instead, Korra remembered her training, found the strength she needed and stood straight as he grasped her forearm in greeting.

“Korra, it is so good to see you again.”

Korra smiled, nearly choked up from seeing the first friendly, familiar face all day, and hearing a familiar language too. “You too, Tenzin.”

“I have many questions for you, but this first one is the most important,” Tenzin said, his face growing serious.

Korra's warm, happy feeling from a second ago began to freeze over. She wasn't supposed to be here, he was going to be _so_ mad. “Okay?”

“Would you prefer dinner or a bath first?” Tenzin asked with all the gravitas of the world.

  
  


**ccoOoɔɔ**

  
  


It was not long before Korra found herself sitting with Tenzin in his family's private living room, clean, warm and fed. Naga was happily asleep outside, snuggled up with the sky bison.

“Korra, I am honored that you would come all this way for my tutelage, and ashamed that you were received so poorly by the citizens and the police here,” Tenzin said once Korra had finished telling him the tale of her first day in the city.

“It's fine, Tenzin, seriously.” Korra had already put the incidents of the day behind her.

“No, I don't believe it is. In all honesty, I don't think the city is safe for you.”

Korra snorted. “I can handle myself. I've been learning how to fight since I was four years old.” Really all she had hurt today was her pride.

“I don't doubt that, but that is not what I meant.” Tenzin interlaced his fingers and pressed them to his chin, thinking for a moment before he spoke. “There are many forces, many factions at work within the city, some legitimate, some not, and many with a veneer of legitimacy to hide their unlawful core. Few have the best interests of the citizens at heart, and all are working at cross purposes.”

“Okay...” Korra said, not sure if she was following him on this path he was creating. “Can you give me some examples?”

Tenzin cleared his throat. “Well, there are the gangs—the triads as they are known around here—the corporations, the activist groups--”

Korra interrupted. “Like the Equalists?”

“Ah, yes. They would be one of the more vocal groups, yes. Then there is the council, the cultural centers, the police and the military... Just to name a few of the larger and more influential forces.”

“And how does this relate to me not being received well?” Korra prompted, as Tenzin trailed off, staring thoughtfully into space.

“I worry,” he said in his slow, deliberate way, “that certain groups or forces will try to manipulate you. Use your position to lend legitimacy to their opinions and causes, or to use your power to harm their enemies.”

Korra folded her arms across her chest. “I know better than to hurt people.” In fact, most of her training could easily be boiled down to just that: do not harm others with bending.

“I know you do. My mother has kept me abreast of your training, and sings nothing but your praises. My worry is that others will force you into a situation in which there are no good options. We cannot underestimate the cunning and intelligence of these...”

“Enemies,” Korra supplied.

Tenzin shook his head. “No. Never enemies. We cannot paint them in such black and white terms, not if we want to find peace. My father did not win his war by killing the Fire Lord, he created peace by making friends and stopping violence.”

Korra nodded, though she didn't know if she agreed. She'd read news stories of houses being burned down with children locked inside, triad members clearly the ones to blame. If Tenzin wouldn't call _those_ people his enemies, then he was being willfully naive.

The two of them sat in silence for a minute, Tenzin staring thoughtfully into space again, and Korra both contemplating Tenzin's stance and wondering how to broach the more important topic. A clock ticked on the wall.

“So,” Korra said, once it was clear Tenzin wasn't going to say anything more. “When can we start training?”

Tenzin blinked, then smiled just a little. “Tomorrow, if you wish.”

Korra grinned and sat up straighter.

“But,” Tenzin said, holding up a finger before she could speak, “there is one thing I must ask of you.”

“What's that?”

The little smile faded and Tenzin looked her in the eye, very stern. “If you are to be my pupil, you will follow my instructions. Even if you disagree with them, even if you do not see their value in the moment.”

Korra placed her hands on her knees and bowed her head. “I will, sifu Tenzin.” Both her earthbending and her firebending teachers had given her similar rules, and from that, she had learned valuable lessons: patience and restraint. And besides, her true nature was water. She was flexible and adaptable. It was why she learned the other elements so easily, and how she would come to master airbending as well.

Tenzin let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Korra. I will meet you on the training grounds at six o'clock tomorrow morning. Jinora or Ikki will show you where to go.”

Barely containing her excitement, Korra thanked Tenzin again and again as he showed her to her room.

It wasn't long before Korra, in her pajamas, lay down on her hard Air Temple bed, staring at the stars through a gap in the shutters.

 _It's finally happening_ , she thought to herself. _I'm finally going to learn airbending._ A drop of worry wormed its way into her heart however, and unbidden, the thought arose, _will I be able to?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updated the rating because there will be some violence, especially towards the end of the story.


End file.
